The team behind Evanston comfort food restaurant Ten Mile House and the neighboring weekends-only doughnut slinger DB3 Donuts has bestowed the North Shore with another concept. This time, they targeted Winnetka’s central business district, opening Fred’s Garage (574 Green Bay Rd.) in a former service station last week.
“From our perspective, we have created, in underserved areas, a social gathering spot that serves multiple generations,” Joe Krouse says of Ten Mile House, which he co-owns with Fred Gale and Robert LaPata. At Fred’s, the trio has brought on chef Michael Luth (Dusek’s), and hopes to create that same convivial vibe—along with an approachable menu. “The bottom line is to serve familiar dishes with high quality, fresh ingredients,” Krouse adds. The space maintains much of its service station splendor, including operable garage doors and car bench seating, and also houses a bar.
While Ten Mile focuses on wood-fired pizzas, smoked meats, and other classic comfort foods, the menu at Fred’s showcases Luth’s elevated takes on American and global classics. This means a bacon-wrapped meatloaf dish gets an Asian spin thanks to hoisin barbecue sauce and wasabi-laced potato purée; chicken skews decidedly Southern, and is served as a fried half-bird with chorizo gravy and buttermilk biscuits. And then there’s the vindaloo—which Luth proclaims the wildest thing on the menu—a spiced up curry dish incorporating shiitake mushroom and potato and served over couscous that’s tossed with dried fruit and honey.